Toothpaste tubes typically include a mechanism allowing the tube to be repeatedly opened to dispense the paste and closed to prevent the paste from drying out or being inadvertently dispensed. Various closure mechanisms have been developed for that purpose, including threaded caps and lids, flip-top caps, self-opening and closing pumps, and valves or apertures that open, allowing paste to flow when the tube is squeezed, advanced by a threaded diaphragm, or forced by a plunger, etc. As used herein, the term “toothpaste” means toothpaste and/or or tooth gel as those terms are commonly understood, as well as other pastes and gels used to assist the cleaning and/or whitening and/or polishing of one's teeth.
The vast majority of the known prior art toothpaste dispenser closure mechanisms are purely functional in nature and have a utilitarian look to them. At most they may have design characteristics that make them more attractive or effective as a closure mechanism.